This floppy disk can come in handy if the problem is being caused when either the startup record for the active partition or the files that the operating system uses to start Windows have become corrupted. One of the first things you should reach for when troubleshooting a Windows XP boot problem is a Windows startup disk.
This entry was originally published as an article on January 26, 2006.
This blog post is available in PDF format as a TechRepublic Download. To help you get started on this expedition, here are 10 things you can do when Windows XP won't boot. Return from "Windows XP Welcome Screen" to the other Windows XP tips and tricks.When your computer hardware appears to power up okay, but the Windows XP operating system won't boot properly, you have to begin a troubleshooting expedition that includes getting into the operating system, determining the problem, and then fixing it. If you change the string HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\CONTROL PANEL\DESKTOP\TILEWALLPAPER to 1 instead of 0, you will get a tiled effect with the bitmap : The changes take effect as soon as you log off and on again.
Click the Start button and select "Run".To put your favorite image or picture in the background of the logon screen : Enter the values in the correct red-green-blue order, separated with a space. The default value should be 0 78 152, but you can now change it to the values for red, green and blue that you wrote down previously (e.g. In the registry editor, navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\CONTROL PANEL\COLORS and double-click the "background" string.In the "open" field, type regedit and click ok.Then, click the Start button and select "Run".In the "display properties" dialog, click cancel once more.In the "advanced appearance" dialog, also click cancel.Pick the color of your choice and make a note of the red, green and blue values in the lower-right corner of the color dialog box (for instance 128 64 64).Click on the "color1" drop-down list and select "other".Right-click an empty spot on your desktop.Or you can personalize some more by giving it your favorite image or picture as background image. Yes, when you have your Windows set up to use the logon screen, you can customize the background color. You can customize the Windows XP logon screen.You can enter ANY user/password combination in the logon screen, including hidden user accounts.
Windows shows "shut down" on the Windows XP start menu.The ctrl-alt-delete keyboard combination brings you to the Windows security dialog box.You can not use "hidden" user accounts to log on.